A great deal of time can be spent in preparing a floral arrangement, thus precautions have been taken in packaging and transporting them to ensure that they are not damaged during delivery. In the past, such precautions in packaging have been very time-consuming and do not always ensure safe delivery of the arrangement. One of the significant problems in packaging an arrangement is that the floral portion usually extends two to three times the height of the container where the base of the container is usually significantly narrower than the size of the arrangement. The arrangement, if not handled properly, may, therefore, tip over. Approaches have been taken to provide boxes for floral arrangements to add to their stability, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,821,297 and 3,128,316. Such container boxes are complex in structure and do not appreciably enhance the stability of the arrangement.
In an attempt to protect the floral arrangement during transport, bags may be used to contain the arrangement such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,706. According to one aspect of the floral arrangement disclosed in that patent, a circular platform may be provided which is placed in a bag. The arrangement container or container with platform, as the case may be, in that patent is free to move around within the bag, because the bag, first of all, is not fitted to receive the container or platform and, secondly, there is nothing linking the closed upper portion of the bag to the arrangement. Thus, the arrangement can tip within the bag while carrying, resulting in the arrangement leaning against the plastic and causing damage. Therefore, the bag provided very little, if any, physical protection for the bagged arrangement during carrying and when the arrangement is set down, there are instances when the bag has moved relative to the arrangement which could cause arrangement upset when the bag is lifted for subsequent carrying.
When the several approaches in the past for providing floral arrangement packaging, there have been made available many different sizes and shapes of packaging for different types of arrangement containers, such as vases, thin stemmed glassware, flower pots, wicker baskets and the like. As a result, a florist has had to carry several different types of packages in order to package the different shapes of floral arrangements. Due to the complexity of the prior packaging, it has sometimes been difficult to gain access to the floral arrangement after delivery, thus frustrating the customer and, in some instances, after removing the opaque covering, find that the arrangement has been damaged.